1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting air and water in and eliminating air and water from the fuel in diesel-type internal combustion engines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is not known in the art to automatically eliminate air and water from the fuel in diesel-type internal combustion engines.
In the past, air and water have been removed manually. This procedure must be carried out by an operator who is knowledgeable in the operation of internal combustion engines. In addition, the procedure causes delay and hygienic problems.
In systems installed in more modern vehicles, if air enters the system in small quantities, i.e., when fuel runs dry in the tank, the pump can be primed and the air eliminated by carrying out successive attempts of starting the engine. Such attempts drain the battery, damage the starter and may even cause damage to the injection system in cases of air overflow.
Moreover, if a leakage occurs in the feed system, the pump will constantly be unprimed causing successive engine stoppages, so that the operator has to perform repeated attempts at starting the engine.
It has been found that most failures occurring in internal combustion engines are due to the ingress of air into the fuel injection pump which becomes unprimed as a result.
The ingress of air may be caused by a rupture in the main fuel system, by deficient sealing members in joints, by partial obstructions in tubes or filters, by lack of fuel and also if fuel filters are replaced without the required bleeding being carried out.
In spite of substantial technical improvements made in the past in fuel injection pumps, the automatic discharge of air from fuel systems is not yet known. Accordingly, it cannot be avoided that a pump becomes unprimed when a mechanical or electrical fuel pump delivers fuel mixed with air and pumps this mixture to the fuel injection pump.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an automatically operated apparatus for detecting air and water in and eliminating air and water from the fuel in internal combustion engines. Thus, the problems resulting from the unpriming of a fuel injection pump in diesel-type internal combustion engines when air is mixed into the fuel are to be avoided.